Though the brilliant romantic composer, Felix Mendelssohn, was born more than half a century after Mozart, they have much in common. Both had gifted sisters four years their senior. Both were child prodigies and both died in their middle thirties. In other respects, their lives were very different.

Felix was born into a distinguished Jewish family in Hamburg, Germany, who converted to Christianity when the boy was seven. By then they had been living in Berlin for five years as the parents were determined to give all four children the best education possible. As a child Felix performed before the aging Goethe who, as a young man, had heard the seven-year-old Mozart perform. The great writer declared Felix to be Wolfgang reincarnated.

At the ripe old age of 20, Mendelssohn conducted a series of concerts in London to great acclaim. Then he began a two year European tour accompanied by a childhood friend, Karl Klingemann. They headed north to Scotland for a walking tour in the Highlands.

On July 30th, Felix wrote the following in a letter to his parents: "Today we went to the palace of Holyrood where Queen Mary lived and loved. The chapel is now roofless. Grass and ivy thrive there and, at the broken altar, where Mary was crowned Queen of Scotland. Everything is ruined, decayed, and the clear heavens pour in. I think I have found there the beginning of my "Scottish" symphony."  In his letter, he enclosed a sketch of the opening bars. For some unknown reason, after a couple of years fussing with it, he shelved the unfinished work for a decade.

This symphony was finally finished by Mendelssohn in 1842 in Berlin. Although it is called Symphony No. 3 it was in fact his last symphony to be completed. It is written in four interconnected sonata form movements. The mostly andante first movement is followed by an exuberant second. The third movement is an adagio in A major. The Symphony concludes with a nod to Scottish folk dancing.

Program notes by: Ian A. Fraser